This invention relates to display devices, and more particularly to a user programmable electronic display device for displaying stored information thereon and a method of providing the information for display in a user-defined sequence.
The use of conventional printed business cards is standard practice for introducing an individual or a company to others. The printed business card generally records fundamental information such as the name, title, address, or telephone number of the individual or the company. For convenience, the conventional printed business card has a standard size of 2 inches by 3.5 inches. Since the size of the printed business card is fixed, the amount of information that can be recorded is restricted. Therefore, except for the fundamental information described above, other useful information such as personal publications, academic backgrounds, professional backgrounds, or company catalogs, product offerings, services, and so on, cannot be recorded on the limited sheet of paper.
Nevertheless, with the prevalence of computers, all kinds of data can be stored as computer files in various forms such as document files, data structures, diagrams, images or multimedia files. Thus, a portable recording media used in a computer system may be capable of replacing the conventional printed business card for recording the personal data. However, prior art recording media typically do not come with displays for readily viewing the information on the recording media. A personal computer with a media reading device thus becomes necessary to display such information. Consequently, the media may be discarded and the information, which is otherwise designed to attract new business, may not be viewed.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an electronic display device which is capable of containing much more information than is capable of being printed upon a conventional business card or advertising brochure, yet has a size which generally corresponds to that of a conventional business card so that the device can be conveniently carried and stored in a conventional-sized wallet. It would be further desirable to provide a software system and method for programming the display device to display data in a predetermined sequence in accordance with the discretion of a user.